Starbucks Survey: Ever heard of Second Life?

I constantly remind people that despite the massive news coverage of the virtual world of Second Life, the vast majority of people have never heard of it. For instance, the entire Midwest. However, the average Starbucks denizen in San Francisco has not heard of it either. Nor had they heard of There, Habbo Hotel, or Puzzle Pirates. A few had heard of World of Warcraft, from the TV commercials. Everyone had heard of Myspace.

I, of course, look on the bright side. If few people have heard of MMOs and virtual worlds, it means that the space has that much more room to grow. Myspace, on the other hand, may have reached its saturation point.

Admittedly, my sample size was about 15 people. I did not ask the employees. For comparison, I did the same experiment with MacGyver in DC's Union Station. In a 50 person sample, ninety percent knew who MacGyver was.

By the way, this was in a Starbucks in downtown San Francisco, near to Union Square on a Sunday afternoon. Try it yourself. Insert your own particular obsession/company/product. You'll be enlightened.